THIS is the hard truth Mets fans must face today. The Nationals have a brighter future than the Mets. It doesn’t get any worse than that. Washington has the worst record in baseball at 51-97.

It’s so bad that it may be easier for the Nationals to attract free agents than the Mets. The Nationals have Stephen Strasburg, future ace, and will get the No. 1 pick in the amateur draft next June, too, which could be phenom Bryce Harper.

That’s a pretty good foundation on which to build. Add minor league standout shortstop Ian Desmond to the mix, and the Nationals have something going.

The Mets’ reliance on signing free agents has cost them in the draft, and their farm system is not a pretty picture. The good news is the Mets will get one of the top picks in the draft next year. Perhaps the teams ahead of them will not want to pay too big of a price and a prospect like Harper will fall into their laps. But that’s a big maybe.

“It’s good business to spend money on the top four or five picks in the draft,” super-agent Scott Boras, who got Strasburg that record $15.1 million, said yesterday.

The Mets beat the Nationals 3-2 yesterday at Citi Field because the Nationals’ error was a bit more costly than the Mets’. The win snapped a season-long six-game losing streak for the Mets.

Mets management believes the team’s problems are because of a slew of injuries. To an extent, that’s true, but there is no guarantee the injuries the Mets have suffered this year will all go away next season. There is no guarantee some of the same problems that plagued the Mets this year will not make a return engagement next season.

Since Jim Riggleman took over as manager of the Nationals, they are 25-36. The Mets’ record over that same span is 22-40.

The Mets are hoping to somehow pick up a big bat for left field next season. Just how that will happen remains to be seen. Jerry Manuel was asked why a top-notch free-agent power bat would come to spacious Citi Field, a place where home runs go to die.

“I think you come here to win,” Manuel said. “That’s the key. Your power will keep defenses from playing you different. Even though if you hit a double and you have speed in front of you, you’re getting those power numbers and RBIs and those types of things.

“They know it’s big, but at the same time if you put together a group of players with the chance to win on this stage, and you got a good team. Again, you might not have the number of home runs, but you might have more RBIs than you had and that’s as critical as hitting it out of the ballpark.”

You have to give Manuel credit for being positive, but there are two things wrong with that picture: The Mets have to prove they are winners and the ballpark still is too big.

It can no longer be taken for granted that the Mets will contend. They followed two straight choke jobs with one of the ugliest seasons imaginable. In the NL, only the Nationals and Pirates have a more pathetic record.

There is no Strasburg in the Mets’ future. There is no overall No. 1 pick in the Mets’ future.

The Mets are walking a tightrope. Nothing is guaranteed. You can’t take this team at its word anymore. You know the Yankees will go out and spend the money, no one knows what the Madoff Mets will do on the open market. No one knows how much money the Mets will commit to the team in the future.

That’s why the Mets have to start building from within.

The team that can’t hit home runs has to hit a home run in next year’s draft for the future of the franchise.